NTP Study Says Cell Phones Might Cause Rare Tumors

The cell phone has become a food like necessary which makes our lives relatively easy and affluent. But where cellphones bring outrageous advantages ranging from multiple means of worldwide communication to set our alarms it has brought multiple side effects as well. A number of researchers are on run to prove the innocence or disasters of radiations emitted from cell phone screen. A similar research is recently conducted by National Toxicology Program in which they recruited thousands of male and female mice and tested what biological changes radiations emitted from mobile phone bring.

According to 2016 study, 95% of American adults use smartphones and no empirical study has yet found strong evidence enough to pose a biological threat to the users that might make them stop. But authorities weren’t satisfied with the data and they asked for more. To serve the cause of public health, NTP (National Toxicology Program) conducted a study the biological threats and side effects of exposure to the cellphone’s radiations which are radio frequent.

This study has revealed on Feb 5, 2018, that cellphone might cause the development of some rare tumours in nerves which might target males more frequently.

The Test

NTP invested $25 for this 10 years long investigation to explore the effects of radiations coming from cell phones on human’s biological health. The goal of this study was to see whether these radiations actually have any biological effect and that if these radiations do the effect, what kind and quantity of dose produces these effects.

In previous studies, it was proposed that cellphone radiations are weak non-ionizing ones which are largely different from ionizing radiations produced by atomic items and X-rays which are destructive and that there is no significant proof to verify the potential biological side effects of cellphone and microwave radiations. To clear out the confusion, NTP recruited 3,000 female and male rats and mice to study the cause. The researcher Bucher comments that it was one of the most comprehensive and technically challenging studies tried by NTP. The build specific chambers for participant rats and mice and exposed them to same radiations which are released by mobile phones. Researchers also exposed these rats and mice with radiofrequency waves that 2G, 3G and 4G wireless networks use in the transmission to see the effects as 4G networks also emit similar waves which are used in audio message transmission. Researchers exposed these rats and mice with strong and higher amount of waves to test the dose that causes the biological effects. However, they avoided harming the participants dangerously.

These rats and mice were exposed to these waves before birth to 2 years and afterwards because 2 years of rat’s age is equal to 70 years of human biological age.

What Do Results Reveal?

Bucher commented that they have found a lot of biological effects in rats and mice but they aren’t sure if these are important or not. Results are yet to be approved and discussed by FDA in March 2018.

However, an important lead that has come to light is that some male rats develop tumours in hearts known as schwannomas while female mice haven’t developed them. Bucher reckons that males have big bodies which attract more radiations than female bodies and this can be the reason behind these gender-related variations. The pinpoint of 2018 studies is that previous studies provided the evidence of the schwannomas in the inner ears of people who abuse cell phone usage while in the current study; these rare benign tumours are found in the hearts of mice. Other biological effects include the change in the weight of pups born to exposed rats and those born to non-exposed rats as well as certain damaged DNA proves have also been found.

Are there any Positive Effects?

This study actually revealed some positive effects of these radiations as well which include the finding that exposed male rats had longer lives than those who weren’t exposed.

Some researchers have commented that this study might reflect that mobile phones are safe to use while others say these findings call for some precaution. However, the final decision about how this study affects the general public health and what measures are needed to be taken is yet to be decided by FDA in March.

Just Health Related is all about publishing useful and healthy information. Our articles are published after researching on the topics and making sure all the information is backed with authentic resouces.